Jeanne Martin, a nurse practitioner, speaks with a colleague at a nursing station at Stony Brook University Hospital. (March 14, 2013) (Credit: Daniel Brennan)

Nurse practitioners say they can fill the void created by a shortage of primary care physicians, but they first want to ensure that New York legislators lift the state's restrictions on their profession.

Physicians who practice family medicine, pediatrics and internal medicine are in the minority among doctors statewide, data show.

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Nurse practitioners say they can fill the void created by a shortage of primary care physicians, but they first want to ensure that New York legislators lift the state's restrictions on their profession.

Physicians who practice family medicine, pediatrics and internal medicine are in the minority among doctors statewide, data show.

Nationally, almost half of the nation's 830,000 doctors are over age 50 and may retire in the not-too-distant future, according to a 2012 report from the Physicians Foundation. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates a shortfall of 130,000 physicians by 2025.

"Nurse practitioners can definitely fill the gap, that's one of the reasons we want to shine a light on nurse practitioners," said Jeanne Martin, a nurse practitioner at Stony Brook University Hospital and president of the Nurse Practitioner Association New York State.

"We are educating more and more nurse practitioners and they are trained in primary care," Martin said. At the very minimum, she said, nurse practitioners have a master's degree and many hold a doctorate.

Yet, Martin describes advanced-practice nurses as being "shackled" by regulations.

"A lot of nurse practitioners have desires to open their own practices," said Ferrara, who heads the occupational health division at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, where he treats sick employees.

It would be easier to hang out a shingle, Ferrara said, without having to sign a collaborative agreement.

The nurses were encouraged when Gov. Andrew Cuomo mentioned during his State of the State address a pending bill in the Assembly that would lift practice restrictions on them.

Hughes said lower-cost practitioner care is another problematic claim.

Studies, Hughes said, have demonstrated that nurse practitioners order more tests and are more likely to refer patients to expensive specialists compared with primary care physicians, who can handle subtle, difficult medical issues themselves.

Physicians, Hughes added, are facing pay issues because some insurers are paying nurse practitioners on par with doctors.

Dr. Atul Grover, chief public policy officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, said efforts are under way to increase the number of physicians in primary care.